It was generally believed in the Japanese army that behind Ishiwara's baby face lay excellent strategic thinking. So everyone thought Ishiwara should have his own judgment on the situation and ideas on how to deal with Japan's current crisis.

In this tormented situation, the officers attending the General Staff meeting looked uncalm due to the torture they suffered in their hearts. Lieutenant General Kanaya Hanzo, the current Chief of General Staff, saw a humble and calm look on Ishiwara's baby face, which Kanaya Hanzo felt was more like mockery.

Suppressing his unhappiness, Lieutenant General Kanaya Hanzo asked, "Ishiwara-kun, the British Military Delegation will arrive at the General Staff Headquarters soon to attend this meeting. The British Military Delegation specifically invited you, Nagata-kun, and Okamura-kun to attend this meeting. I expect the three of you to speak freely to the British Military Delegation."

Chief of General Staff Lieutenant General Kanaya originally thought that Ishiwara would express some objection after hearing this, or show the rebelliousness characteristic of a thorn. Unexpectedly, Ishiwara Kanji bowed respectfully after hearing it, "Yes."

A feeling of uneasiness filled Lieutenant General Kanaya's heart, but facing Ishiwara's obedience, he couldn't do anything at this time. Among the Three Chiefs of the Army, except for the Inspector General of Military Training who could not directly punish active generals, the Minister of War and the Chief of General Staff both held command power. Even a war hero like Ishiwara Kanji could be reprimanded by the Chief of General Staff. However, that required Ishiwara Kanji to have indeed done something that must be punished.

Staring at Ishiwara for a moment, Kanaya turned to Nagata Tetsuzan and Okamura Yasuji. "Nagata-kun, Okamura-kun, please be prepared."

Hearing the order, both of them bowed and answered like Ishiwara, "Yes."

Nagata was considered the future leader of the Army, while Okamura was highly evaluated for his rigorous staff character. Kanaya was very assured about these two, but Kanaya also had expectations for Ishiwara Kanji. Among the 'Twin Walls' of the young generation of the Japanese Army, everyone had a higher evaluation of Nagata, but privately implicitly believed that Ishiwara's strategy and tactics might be slightly better.

Other officers remained silent. Although the Army indeed recognized the performance of these three in the Sino-Japanese War, the British specifically inviting them indeed made the officers feel somewhat slighted.

The British Military Delegation didn't think about such issues. What they cared about was the strength shown by these three in the war against the Chinese army. Nagata Tetsuzan's calm and steady command, Ishiwara Kanji's excellent performance in tactics, and Okamura Yasuji's solid staff operations were all very valuable for the British to learn from.

Led by Lieutenant General Hamilton, the British Military Delegation walked into the conference room. At this time, the Japanese officers had moved to one side, leaving the other side for the British officers.

After a simple mutual introduction, Lieutenant General Hamilton first ordered a lieutenant colonel to introduce the recent war situation to the Japanese side. Japan paid close attention to the Sino-British war. Due to the traditional relationship between Britain and Japan, the Japanese army sent a military observation group early on. Every day, the Japanese Army and Navy studied the latest war reports.

"...The Chinese army's raid has been stopped by our army 100 kilometers north of Yangon. Now, our army has built a solid defensive position and is ready to launch a counterattack."

After the British lieutenant colonel finished introducing the war situation, he looked at Lieutenant General Hamilton. Seeing the Lieutenant General nod slightly, he sat back in his seat.

The Japanese generals looked at each other. Nagata saw Lieutenant General Kanaya Hanzo looking at him, but did not speak first; instead, he looked at Ishiwara Kanji. The meaning was very clear: let Ishiwara speak first. Because Nagata had already attended two meetings convened by the Prime Minister, detailing his views to the Prime Minister and several cabinet ministers present at the meeting. It was inappropriate for him to speak first at this time.

Seeing Chief of General Staff Kanaya nodding slightly to him, Ishiwara stood up and greeted the British Military Delegation. After sitting back in his seat, he said, "May I ask if your government has considered expanding the scope of the war beyond Burma?"

Lieutenant General Hamilton felt this question was sharp and could only reply, "We haven't received any notification in this regard for the time being."

Hearing this dialogue, Nagata felt that Ishiwara raised a very good question. If Britain only prepared to fight China in Burma, it meant that Britain was not prepared to expand the scale of the war to the level of a national war. In other words, Britain was not prepared to fight a war of European War level, at least there was absolutely no such consideration at this stage.

Ishiwara continued to ask, "For the troops lost by your country's army, after engaging the enemy, what was the longest time they held out?"

Lieutenant General Hamilton felt somewhat unhappy in his heart, but thinking that the elite 30,000 Kwantung Army of Japan didn't last for three days with a good defense system, while the British troops annihilated were regimental-level combat units, his mood was somewhat cushioned. However, Lieutenant General Hamilton did not answer but asked his adjutant this question. The adjutant thought for a moment and replied, "The longest lasted less than 48 hours."

Ishiwara looked serious. He thought for a moment and continued to ask, "According to your army's description just now, the Chinese army adopted a rapid offensive when they first broke through the border line, but the advance has obviously slowed down in the last half month or so, right?"

Lieutenant General Hamilton did not answer this question but asked, "Your Excellency Ishiwara, I heard that you are an excellent tactician. I also heard that you consider yourself a student of General He Rui. Based on your understanding of General He Rui, what does this mean?"

Whether British Military Delegation members or Japanese officers, they all looked at Ishiwara. Everyone wanted to analyze something from such a simple war situation, but none could reach a convincing conclusion. So everyone wanted to hear Ishiwara's opinion, especially now that Lieutenant General Hamilton frankly raised the relationship between Ishiwara and He Rui.

Ishiwara never hid his academic relationship with He Rui. "Your Excellency, let me clarify. In terms of geopolitics and political economy, I am indeed He-kun's student. He-kun is very excellent in military science, but his ability in political science is obviously more outstanding. Therefore, I understand this war from the perspective of geopolitics."

In Europe, soldiers would naturally talk about politics. But politically, the army should be isolated from politics. So Ishiwara's frank admission that he was He Rui's student in political science was already a bit 'too frank.' As for understanding war through geopolitics, it even made the participating British Military Delegation feel at a loss.

The Japanese General Staff Headquarters did not feel this way. Although Japan learned from Europe in military science, the Navy was the apprentice of Britain. The Japanese Army learned from Germany, and Japanese officers remembered the sentence 'War is the continuation of politics' from the works of German military science masters.

As for "Sun Tzu's Art of War": 'War is a matter of vital importance to the State; the province of life or death; the road to survival or ruin. It is mandatory that it be thoroughly studied.' Generals could recite this passage.

Ignoring the astonishment of the British officers, Ishiwara continued, "The Chinese army knows the purpose of this war very well. Before the war broke out, they did their best to avoid other possibilities and limited the Sino-British war to the scope of colonies. I don't know if the British side set the war to break out in the colonies at the beginning, but judging from the results, the Chinese army launched a prepared war in the area they expected."

The British Military Delegation was somewhat surprised. They regarded the Chinese army as a strong enemy and indeed prepared for the possibility of the Chinese army attacking Burma. So far, Britain believed that the Chinese army attacking Burma was the former suzerain reclaiming the former vassal state, and did not elevate it to a strategic level.

As an old colonial country, Britain had experienced too much in seizing colonies, losing colonies, and exchanging colonies in the past few hundred years. It even encountered colonies breaking away from Britain through wars of independence. Ishiwara raising the pattern of this war to a strategic height made the British Military Delegation feel that Ishiwara might be over-interpreting.

Seeing the change in the British expressions, Ishiwara's expression became serious. Japan once thought He Rui's war concept was limited to the war itself, so it suffered a big loss. Now the British reaction was the same, still looking at the war itself through war. Under different perspectives of war patterns, the British would probably also be eaten dry and wiped clean by He Rui.

In Ishiwara's strategic assessment, if Britain lost to China, it would be of great help to launching the Japanese revolution. So Ishiwara prepared to reveal his views on the war completely. Because the war had already started according to He Rui's setting, even if the British realized their mistake now, they probably wouldn't have a chance to turn the tables. For Ishiwara, such a narration could also help him get rid of a lot of suspicion.

So Ishiwara said seriously, "Gentlemen, for soldiers, war is more about war. But for politicians, war is the continuation of politics. He-kun is a civilized person; his purpose in starting the war is to serve economic and political goals. Even from the perspective of war itself, it is easy to start a war, but very difficult to end a war. Let's look at it from the perspective of ending the war..."

Hearing this, the expressions of all Japanese officers became serious. Ishiwara's words evoked everyone's memories. From the beginning to the end of the Sino-Japanese War, its progress was completely under He Rui's control. The Great Kanto Earthquake only advanced the time of the Sino-Japanese armistice and did not change the outcome of the Sino-Japanese War.

Ishiwara did not talk about the Sino-Japanese War but continued to discuss around the ongoing Sino-British War. "Britain no longer has the ability to pay the price of 500,000 deaths and millions of injuries for a war. He-kun knows this very well. You think the British army stopped the Chinese army's attack 100 kilometers north of Burma [Yangon]. I personally guess that the troops stopping the Chinese army's attack are the British Indian Army, not the army composed of white British people. Annihilating a large number of British Indian troops before was to create military pressure and cause Britain to distrust the combat effectiveness of the British Indian Army. I guess the pressure on this defense line is very high now. Based on Britain's distrust of the combat effectiveness of the British Indian Army, Britain will mobilize the army composed of white British people to fight in Burma. Once a large-scale pure white army enters Burma, they will inevitably be fiercely attacked by the Chinese army immediately. Since the British army's tolerance for the loss of white troops is not high, He-kun only needs to let the loss of British white troops reach such a scale to end the war."

Hearing this, many people in the British Military Delegation began to think that Ishiwara Kanji might be a madman. Because Ishiwara Kanji's analysis sounded like strange arguments only a madman would say.

From the perspective of military science, breaking the weak part of the enemy army is the most effective choice. The combat effectiveness of the army composed of white British people is far above that of the British Indian Army. Striking the British Indian Army to create pressure in order to fight the strongest white British army—this is an idea only a madman would have.

Lieutenant General Hamilton, head of the British Military Delegation, felt that Ishiwara Kanji's view made some sense. But he originally understood that Ishiwara Kanji was a tactical expert, and this trip was to ask Ishiwara Kanji for his views on the infantry tactics of the Republic National Defense Force. In previous engagements, the British Indian Army acted in regimental units and was quickly and easily annihilated by the Chinese army. If no countermeasures were found, the British army could only conduct military operations in units of several regiments. With the strength of the British Indian Army, military operations of division-level combat units would become extremely slow.

But Lieutenant General Hamilton still waited politely for a moment to see if anyone raised questions about Ishiwara Kanji's view. There was a small commotion in the conference room, but no one discussed. Even the Japanese officers were confused after hearing Ishiwara's description. Because this indeed exceeded common sense of war.

Ishiwara was not interested in continuing the discussion either. He added, "After the European War, Britain's ability to bear war losses has greatly decreased. He-kun is seizing this weakness to conduct continuous strikes, the purpose of which is to force Britain to accept He-kun's conditions for ending the war. Because the current Britain can find no other country capable of supporting Britain except Japan, a quasi-ally with a long history of friendly cooperation."

The faces of more British officers became ugly. Although Ishiwara Kanji's analysis of the Chinese army was very unconstrained, his analysis of the relationship between Britain and various countries at this time hit the nail on the head. The officers who previously thought Ishiwara Kanji was a bit crazy began to feel confused about this guy Ishiwara Kanji. If Ishiwara Kanji was crazy, wouldn't he also be able to make very rational and realistic judgments?

Japanese Army Chief of General Staff Kanaya Hanzo saw that the emotions of the British delegation were a bit chaotic, so he considerately proposed, "Let's take a break first."

This suggestion was quickly approved, and officers from both sides left to rest. Ishiwara Kanji still sat in his seat without moving. When Nagata and others left, he threw a cigarette to Ishiwara, "Ishiwara, I agree with your view very much."

Ishiwara didn't answer, just quietly lit the cigarette and smoked. Nagata thought Ishiwara was unhappy about being excluded, so he said, "After the meeting ends today, let's go drinking together, the three of us."

Unlike what Nagata thought, Ishiwara nodded readily, "Okay." Neither his expression nor his tone showed any sign of unhappiness.

Fifteen minutes later, the Japanese officers returned to the conference room after the break. But the British Military Delegation did not come in. The Japanese officers waited quietly for ten minutes, but the British Military Delegation still did not appear. Now the Japanese officers finally couldn't help but start discussing in low voices.

Some felt that Ishiwara's analysis angered the British Military Delegation, and others felt that even if that was the case, it was too rude for the British Military Delegation not to attend on time.

At this time, Lieutenant General Kanaya Hanzo's adjutant came in from outside and whispered a few words in the Lieutenant General's ear. Lieutenant General Kanaya was stunned, looked at Ishiwara with surprised eyes, and stood up to follow the adjutant away in a hurry. This made other officers feel even more surprised.

Another ten minutes later, with a sound of footsteps, Lieutenant General Kanaya led a group of British Military Delegation members back to the conference room. British Delegation Head Lieutenant General Hamilton did not sit down immediately. He said to Ishiwara, "General Ishiwara, please allow me to apologize for the impoliteness of some of my subordinates just now. We just received a telegram. About 20,000 ANZAC troops arrived in Yangon and were surrounded by the Chinese army on their way to the front line. The two sides have entered fierce fighting. General Ishiwara, I would like to ask you, is the Chinese army launching an attack specifically against the ANZAC troops?"

The Japanese officers' eyes widened because of this news. However, Ishiwara was known as one of the 'Pair of Jade in the Army' alongside Nagata after all, so everyone could accept Ishiwara Kanji's precise judgment. Looking at the expressions of the British Military Delegation opposite, most people had incredulous looks on their faces.

Ishiwara stood up and answered decisively, "Your Excellency, the Chinese army launched the attack entirely against the white British troops. Moreover, only ANZAC troops have been put into the war at this stage, so some situations are not yet obvious. When the Canadian troops and the troops from the British mainland arrive on the battlefield, you will find that the Chinese army can not only clearly distinguish various troops but also launch targeted strikes against troops from different regions according to their political needs. And these targeted military strikes can often have a great impact on the British political circle's consideration of this war."